Mrs. Karol DeWerff is the current preschool teacher at Zion. She resides in Nokomis with her husband David, who is a farmer. They have four children --Eric, Kayla, Ryan and Holly. Prior to teaching at Zion, Mrs. DeWerff taught for 25 years as a Kindergarten, Preschool, and departmentalized teacher at St. Paul's Lutheran School of rural Nokomis. She taught first grade for one year at Vision Way Christian School in Taylorville before accepting the call to Zion.

Mrs. DeWerff was born and raised in Shawano, WI, where she attended Lutheran grade school and public high school. After graduating, she went to Valparaiso University for two years before transferring to Concordia College in River Forest, IL. She graduated from River Forest with an elementary education degree.

Aside from her family and teaching, Mrs. DeWerff enjoys cooking, crafts, and reading. Along with her children, she is a huge Packer, Cardinal, and Illini fan.

Mrs. Sharp grew up and currently resides in Staunton, Illinois, with her husband Jim and sons Ethan, Jace, and Colton. She was baptized, confirmed and married at Zion Lutheran Church in Staunton where she is an active member. She attended all of her grade school years at Zion Lutheran School in Staunton. She went to Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, where she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. After graduating, she substitute taught for a year and a half at various school districts. In 2000, she began working at Zion as the Preschool and Kindergarten teacher. She now teaches full day Kindergarten. She has completed her colloquy classes and has become a called teacher. Mrs. Sharp enjoys spending time with family and friends, taking family vacations, and going boating.

1st Grade Teacher - Mrs. Elizabeth Logsdon

Mrs. Logsdon was born in Litchfield, Illinois. She was baptized at St. Paul's United Church of Christ and confirmed at St. John's Lutheran Church in Dorchester, Illinois. Mrs. Logsdon is an active member of Zion Lutheran Church. Mrs. Logsdon graduated from Gillespie High School in 2002 and went on to attend Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois, graduating from Blackburn in May of 2007. She began teaching at Zion in 2007.

Mrs. Logsdon lives in Gillespie with her husband Mike and daughters, Piper and Phoebe and son Paxton. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends and reading.

2nd Grade Teacher - Mrs. Mary Bown

Mrs. Bown was born in Decatur, Illinois, but has spent most of her life in North Carolina. She graduated high school in Carlinville, Illinois in 1998. She earned her bachelor's degree in Elememtary Education from East Carolina University in 2002. Mrs. Bown was confirmed in 2004 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Havelock, North Carolina. She earned National Certification in 2006 as an Early Childhood Generalist, Mrs. Bown will be starting her colloquy courses this fall. Upon completion of her colloquy courses, she hopes to start working toward earning a Master's Dgree.

Mrs. Bown recently moved to Litchfield due to her husband retiring from the Marine Corps. Mrs. Bown and her two boys, Brandon and Nathan, are looking forward to always having Bill home instead of deployed!

Most of her time is spent with her family and teaching. She also enjoys learning new technology, writing and creating teaching resources online, and spending time with her pets as well as outdoors! Mrs. Bown is looking forward to being active at Zion Lutheran School and Church.

3rd Grade Teacher - Mrs. Maeghan Neese

Photo and Bio Coming Soon!

4th Grade Teacher & Principal - Mr. John Schaff

Mr. Schaff holds a degree in Elementary Education from Concordia Lutheran University Irvine, California. He has been a part of Zion Lutheran for over 15 years starting in 1995 as a teacher of 4th grade. Currently Mr. Schaff is teaching 4th grade in the morning and 3rd and 4th grades in the afternoon.

Mr. Schaff's vision for the future of Zion is to encourage more students and families to come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior through excellent Christian education from Preschool through Jr. High. Mr. Schaff believes that Zion Lutheran Church and School are at a turning point in their history. By the grace of God, the Lord will direct and guide their plans to carry out the Great Commission for training children in the Word of God.

Mr. Schaff has three children; Elizabeth, Matthew, and Anna, and he is married to Leandra. He likes to do woodworking and many outdoor activities.

Miss Pryor was born and baptized in central Indiana and spent the remainder of her childhood in Lincoln, Nebraska. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Eduation from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and taught at Messiah Lutheran in Lincoln for one year before moving to Litchfield and Zion in 1999. Her call to serve Zion came in 2003 after she completed her colloquy studies through Concordia University in River Forest, Illinois. In addition to her classroom teaching, Miss Pryor has served as the school librarian, taught an after-school Spanish class and was recently selected for Who's Who in America's Teachers.

Miss Pryor is very active in Zion's congregation. She has been the chairperson of the church's Board of Parish Education, taught youth and adult Bible classes, and has been part of the handbell and vocal choirs.

Traveling, reading, and spending time with family and friends are some of Miss Pryor's favorite pasttimes.

7th & 8th Grade Teacher - Mrs. Nancy Brakenhoff

Mrs. Brakenhoff is currently the 7th and 8th grade teacher at Zion Lutheran School. She attended Concordia, River Forest, and received a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education in 1984. She started teaching 1st - 4th grade in Wisconsin and then a year later took a call to Zion, Litchfield, where she taught 3rd and 4th grade for 5 years. Mrs. Brakenhoff felt God calling her to home school her children. When the time was right, she sent them to Zion. Mrs. Brakenhoff bought a fitness business, Curves, in 2005, which she ran for 7 years. Then in 2012, she received a call back to Zion to teach again.

Mrs. Brakenhoff lives in Litchfield with her husband Dale and their three children: Devin, Jennifer, and Hope. Together Dale and Nancy have been youth leaders and basketball coaches at Zion. She is currently the Zion Althletic Director.

Mrs. Cindy Niemann, School Secretary

Mrs. Niemann and her husband Brian live in South Litchfield on a farm. They have 3 children Kimberly, Alicia, and Michael, all graduates of Zion Lutheran School. Mrs. Niemann has been the school secretary since 2003. She loves to collect coins and antiques. She also loves to play with her dogs.